Northwest History. Obituaries. Ice to Lyt. Kid to Kly. United States.

Head of Hardware Firm Expires at Hospital.
W. J. Kilmer, a resident of Spokane for 40 years and founder of
the hardware business operating
under the name Kilmer & Sons
company, at Monroe and First,
passed away yesterday afternoon at
a local hospital, where he had been!
taken less than a week ago. He
recently returned from California,
where he spent the winter.
Mr. Kilmer had recently passed
his 77th birthday, having been
born March 4, 1860, in Trenton,
Ont. He lived for a number of
years in Kincardine, Ont., where he
learned the hardware business in
his father's store.
At one time he got as far away
from home as Capetown, South
Africa, where he was employed for
a year and a half in a hardware
store. Soon after returning to
America he came to Spokane. That
was in 1897, and he became interested in the old Spokane Hardware
company as a partner of Tom
Conlin.
Opened Store 27 Years Ago.
The store at First and Monroe
was opened 27 years ago in the
corner store room. The business
has been enlarged several times until it now occupies the entire
ground floor of the building, which
the company purchased about a
year ago.
Associated with him in the business were his three sons, Joseph
D., Racy E. and Frederick W.
Other survivors are three grandchildren in Spokane, and a brother,
John, in British Columbia. For 17
years Mr. Kilmer had spent the
winters in California, with one exception, when he and Mrs. Kilmer
took an extended trip to Australia
and New Zealand. In recent years,
since the passing of Mrs. Kilmer,
he had made his home at the Spokane City club.
Intimate friends of Mr. Kilmer
knew him as the man who had the
happy faculty of making friends
with every one with whom he came
in contact. His kindliness, his good
nature and friendliness had endeared him to many. He prized
the friendship of the delivery boy
who came into the store, as well as
the men who came on important
business. The body is at the Smith
mortuary.

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Head of Hardware Firm Expires at Hospital.
W. J. Kilmer, a resident of Spokane for 40 years and founder of
the hardware business operating
under the name Kilmer & Sons
company, at Monroe and First,
passed away yesterday afternoon at
a local hospital, where he had been!
taken less than a week ago. He
recently returned from California,
where he spent the winter.
Mr. Kilmer had recently passed
his 77th birthday, having been
born March 4, 1860, in Trenton,
Ont. He lived for a number of
years in Kincardine, Ont., where he
learned the hardware business in
his father's store.
At one time he got as far away
from home as Capetown, South
Africa, where he was employed for
a year and a half in a hardware
store. Soon after returning to
America he came to Spokane. That
was in 1897, and he became interested in the old Spokane Hardware
company as a partner of Tom
Conlin.
Opened Store 27 Years Ago.
The store at First and Monroe
was opened 27 years ago in the
corner store room. The business
has been enlarged several times until it now occupies the entire
ground floor of the building, which
the company purchased about a
year ago.
Associated with him in the business were his three sons, Joseph
D., Racy E. and Frederick W.
Other survivors are three grandchildren in Spokane, and a brother,
John, in British Columbia. For 17
years Mr. Kilmer had spent the
winters in California, with one exception, when he and Mrs. Kilmer
took an extended trip to Australia
and New Zealand. In recent years,
since the passing of Mrs. Kilmer,
he had made his home at the Spokane City club.
Intimate friends of Mr. Kilmer
knew him as the man who had the
happy faculty of making friends
with every one with whom he came
in contact. His kindliness, his good
nature and friendliness had endeared him to many. He prized
the friendship of the delivery boy
who came into the store, as well as
the men who came on important
business. The body is at the Smith
mortuary.